A Cat with Wings
by Shadowlily of Moonclan
Summary: Test subject 12 escaped, and has run into three clans. Everything about her is accepted, apart from one thing. She has wings. Rated K because how she got them might be a little upsetting.
1. Prologue and Allegiances

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed :) I really appreciate it.**

**Pumpkinfur: Thanks :)**

**Guest (wow good name): Thanks a lot :)**

**RubyArtist334: I am writing like crazy atm :)**

**Also, thanks to everyone who has favorited and followed. **

"What is the meaning of this?" A black tom mewed from the shadows, amber eyes piercing the darkness.

"We need you to accept a cat into CloudClan." A silvery she-cat mewed, signalling that the tom should look into a pool. "She will be a useful warrior, and she will change the destiny of the clans." The silver cat poked the still water with her paw, making ripples appear, and an image of a ginger and white she-cat floated into the tom's view. He gasped, and after pausing for a short while to take in the information, he nodded.

"When will she come?" He asked

"When the time comes." The silver cat mewed solemnly. "But she must never know of her destiny. You must be cold to her, like you normally would. Lavenderpool will force you to accept her, and you must."

"Thank you, Silverheart." The black tom turned around to face his dead mate, but she was gone. He sat down and thought about the she-cat. She was slim, in good condition, like one of his cats really. All apart from one thing. This cat had wings.

**CloudClan**

**Leader: **Crowstar – Black tom with amber eyes

**Deputy: **Dawnfoot – Golden she-cat with lighter streaks and amber eyes

**Medicine Cat:** Larkflower - Cream she-cat with light brown sides and blue eyes. Slightly deaf but doesn't show it.

**Warriors: **Eaglewing – Brown tabby tom with white tipped tail

Thrushflight – Light brown she-cat with darker stripes

Squirreltail – Grey/Brown tom with very bushy tail

Ravenfeather – Black tom with a blue/green and amber eyes

Juniperfeather – Blue/grey she-cat with green eyes

Stormwhisker – Solid grey tom with amber eyes

Specklefur – Grey she-cat with blue eyes and black spots speckled over her fur

Fennelpelt – Brown tabby tom with green eyes

Owlfeather – Brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes

Kestrelclaw – White and brown tabby tom with yellow eyes

Falconheart – Brown tom with white patches

Doveflight – White/grey she-cat with blue/green eyes

**Apprentices: **Blossompaw – Tortoiseshell she-cat with amber eyes.

Robinpaw – Brown tom with reddish chest and paws

Gullpaw – White tom with grey patches

**Elders: **Milkfur – white she-cat with amber eyes. Used to be a kittypet

Leopardfang – White and tabby she-cat

Rockheart – Grey tabby tom. Retired early because of rock rolling and making him lose sight

**LakeClan**

**Leader:** Blizzardstar – White she-cat with green eyes

**Deputy: **Minnowheart – Grey tabby she-cat with a white chest, belly and paws, again with blue eyes

**Warriors: **Troutsplash – Brown tom with green eyes

Ripplecloud – Grey she-cat with black stripes

Salmonleap – Grey tom with red/brown underbelly

Brackenclaw – Golden tom with darker stripes

Pollockstrike – Silver tom

Breamsplash – Brown tabby she-cat

Reedpelt – Light brown she-cat with green eyes

Lilyfoot – White/Silver she-cat with green eyes

Ferneye – Black she-cat with yellow/green eyes

Piketail – Black tom with dark silver splashes

Dacefin – Dark yellow/gold tom with darker brown stripes

Sandpelt – Sandy brown tom

Streamheart – Grey tabby she-cat with deep blue eyes

Stripeclaw – Brown tabby tom with white claws

Feathermist – Light grey fluffy she-cat with green eyes

**Apprentices: **Flashpaw – Black tom with white splodges

Mudpaw – Brown tom with lighter patches

Heronpaw – White she-cat with grey streaks

**Elders: **Oneeye – A once-pretty tortoiseshell, who is now blind in one eye

Frostpelt – Pure white tom with blue eyes, slightly deaf

**TreeClan**

**Leader: **Leafstar – Grey tom with bright green eyes

**Deputy: **Branchpelt – Brown tabby tom with amber eyes

**Medicine cat: **Ashfeather – Soft grey she-cat with bright blue eyes and white socks

**Warriors: **Rootheart – Grey tabby she-cat with olive green eyes

Spiderpelt – Small black tom with green eyes

Embereye – Tortoiseshell she-cat with amber eyes

Brackentail – Fluffy ginger tabby she-cat

Nettlefoot – Brown tabby tom with white paws and tip of tail.

Elmfur – Light brown she-cat

Leafpatch – Grey/brown tom with amber eyes

Badgerclaw – Black and white tom

Dawnwhisker – Dark grey tabby she-cat with black stripes and yellow/amber eyes

Foxtail – Ginger she-cat.

Elkfoot – Brown and white tom with white tail

Volebreath – Brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes

Rabbitear – Grey tom with white underbelly and unusually big ears

**Apprentices: **Mousepaw – grey/brown she-cat

Lichenpaw – Grey tom with a bluish tint and light blue eyes

Mosspaw – Ginger tom with moss green eyes

**Elders: **Deerfur – Hazel brown tom with amber eyes


	2. 1 Escape

**A/N: Sorry for the long time in posting, but this is a REALLY long chapter as I had to include a BILLION things. Please r and r!**

I rushed through this place, there were tall brown things everywhere. My senses felt on fire, the sharp things under my paws snapping as I ran, my nose taking in too many smells, my pelt feeling everything that brushed past it. I looked over my shoulder. The things which had captured me hadn't gone. Even though I was exhausted I opened my white wings and sprang up through the things which had now turned green. I heard shouts of annoyance below me. _Ha. _I thought. _Got out of there ALIVE._ I flapped my wings, trying to catch a current, which would make the flying easier. I felt one catch underneath my wings, and I thanked it gratefully. It took me down, and I landed clumsily.

I was in a clearing of the tall things. There was a big grey thing in front of me. I was exhausted. I felt my legs collapse under me and I fell, wings still outstretched. I shut my eyes. When I opened them, there was a pair of blue eyes looking at me, scared. I winced at the light and shut them again. I felt the owner of the eyes prod me all over. I tried to stand up, eyes still closed, to run, but I toppled over again, but I didn't hit the ground this time. There was fur against mine, and in shock I opened my eyes again before realising why I had kept them shut. But it was too late, and I just left them as slits, it was better than not knowing what was happening. It turns out the fur belonged to something which looked like me. I mean, it had paws, and eyes, and legs, and whiskers, and a nose, but no wings. I folded one to my side. This me mewed at me.

"Can you walk?" I tried to mew back but it was little more than a croak. "It's okay, just try." The me blinked at me. I was confused. _Why did it blink? Am I meant to blink back?_ I assumed I was and returned the blink. It supported me as I limped heavily on towards a black gap in the grey thing. I stopped limping, and looked at the me, worried. "Come on, it's fine. There is help there, and things to stop it hurting." The me studied me for a few moments. I was much smaller than it, and it attempted to lift me up, holding my fur in it's mouth. Surprisingly, it worked. The me carried me towards the black gap, and I shut my eyes to avoid looking at it.

I must have fallen asleep, because when I woke up, I was lying on a bouncy thing. I felt it underneath my pelt, and it was soft and enjoyable. I tested all my paws, my nose and my wings. Both were folded by my side. There was a pile of green stuff beside the softness and I sniffed it, before deciding it was edible. As I gulped it down, I studied my surroundings. It was fairly light, but not so much so that my eyes hurt. There was more of the grey thing around me, apart from another gap, which was covered by more green stuff. I was wondering whether I could go it, when the me pushed it's way through. I was surprised. Prodding it curiously, I wondered whether I could mew again. To try it out, I mewed

"Who are you?" It came out clear again. The me jumped back, dropping green stuff.

"Me?" It mewed.

"Yes. Where am I? What's this?" I prodded the green stuff again.

"I am Larkflower, medicine cat of CloudClan. I am a she-cat. You are in my den, and that is some ferns."

"Where are your wings?" I mewed, studying her light brown sides.

"I don't have any. None of the cats here do." _Ah, so maybe it is a cat. It's a thing that it's mentioned twice now. _I thought, pondering the absence of wings.

"Are you a c… cat?" I mewed, hoping I had pronounced it right.

"Yes, I am a cat. And a she one at that." _So maybe I should stop calling it 'it' and start calling it 'cat'? _"Crowstar doesn't want to accept you into our clan."

"Crowstar? Is it a cat like you?" I mewed, hoping I made sense.

"'It' is a he. And you should refer to all toms as 'he' and all she-cats as 'she'" It mewed. _So it is a she? Should I refer to it as she? She mewed. Hmmm. _"He is our leader. Did you eat the herbs that were by your nest?"

"Nest?" _She_ gestured with her tail towards the soft thing. "Oh, yes." I felt pleased. She yowled and hurried out. "What? What did I do? Why are there two of you?" She quickly shoved some liquid from some white things into my mouth.

"Quickly swallow it." she mewed. I did so.

"I don't feel well." There was a bubbling in my stomach. Some awful tasting liquid came out through my mouth and onto the ground. There were some red things in it.

"You needed to take some yarrow, it made you throw up the death berries. Some cat had put them beside you, I noticed that there were some left over that you hadn't eaten. But the death berries didn't take an effect as quickly as they should have. Strange." I tilted my head on one side at this comment. _Am I strange? Well, it does appear that I have wings and I'm able to resist these death berries, which this Lavenderpool is evidently scared of._ "Follow me," she mewed, pushing her way through the ferns. I did so, after poking my paw through a few times to make sure it was safe. "You have a nasty cut on your shoulder." I looked at it accordingly, surprised. I hadn't felt any pain. But Lavenderpool had spoken the truth, right there on my shoulder was a deep bloody stain, with a bit of stick around the edge. I looked away almost immediately, even after all that I had been through, blood still made me feel slightly queasy. She came back with a wad of white, soft looking stuff on her paw. She set it down and pushed her head closer to my shoulder. A pain suddenly burst through it, and I winced. "Just pulling out the stick," she mewed, and almost immediately placed the white stuff on my shoulder. "These are cobwebs soaked in marigold poultice." I nodded vaguely, hoping I looked as if I knew what she was talking about.

"Can I see her yet Lavenderpool?" A me rolled into the hole, and shook itself. It had white fur with grey patches.

"No, not yet Gullpaw! I haven't even had the chance to treat her wounds!" Lavenderpool ushered this Gullpaw out and turned back to me. "Gullpaw. About your age I would think. He's an apprentice and I think he would be happy to show you around once I've finished with you," she mewed, purring with pleasure. _Should I call it he?_ "This is almost done." I waited until she said that I could take it off, before returning to the softness. I settled down, but I pricked my ears at muttering outside the ferns.

"Here." Gullpaw pushed his way through the ferns, with a strange brown thing in his mouth. "Mouse. You eat?" I sniffed the mouse before setting my teeth into it. The flavour filled my mouth and I ate half before pushing it towards him.

"You want some? I'm not empty any more."

"You really aren't hungry?" He mewed, tilting his head on one side

"Hungry?"

"Empty." He explained.

"No, I'm not. You have the rest." I really wasn't hungry any more, my stomach felt like it would burst.

"Thanks!" He blinked at me before crouching down to gulp down the rest. "You know, Blossompaw thought that you would be horrible and conceited, but I like you!" I purred, a warm feeling spreading through my chest.

"Thanks for the mouse."

"It's okay. I'll come tomorrow, after training."

"Okay. Bye?" I mewed, hoping I used the right words."

"Bye!" He pushed his way back out, and I spent a few moments looking at it before curling up in the softness and sleeping. It must have been the first time in my life that I slept like that day.

**A/N: Thanks for all of you who read :) Remember to review below!**

**Shadow **

**-x-**


	3. 2 Acceptance?

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I will try and reply to all of you, but if there is too many I will do the ones that post regularly. :) Oh, and I've also found out how to do fancy lines ^_^ (You might see them later) I will try and update once per week and will explain any absence! :) **

**AnnoyingGirl - I've updated it so it isn't a blob :). I'm not very good with where paragraphs go, apart from new speaker new line**

**meow - Yes, she is a cat (see title of story), and she has only really met them, but most cats don't like her. ALL WILL BE EXPLAINED LATER ;)**

**RubyArtist66 - Thanks :):):):):) Everything is appreciated!**

**darkdreamsXsilentpaw - I will force her to explain to Gullpaw later**

**Eevee - She :) I hate writing for toms...**

**Mallow - ;) It was a brilliant idea, I have to admit (I am putting the picture you drew up soon)**

**Boy, this is a long author's note. I'll end it now for you (LINE TIME)**

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I yawned sleepily, opening my jaws wide. I had been learning new words with Larkflower, when a big black tom had entered, air of importance included. Larkflower had quickly pushed me into my den, and told me to go to sleep, but of course I wasn't. I was listening in to their conversation.

"Crowstar." I heard Larkflower mew respectfully. _Was this the Crowstar she was talking about earlier? The one who didn't want me to stay?_

"Larkflower." He mewed, in a deep, gravelly mew. "I think you know what I am here about."

"Yes, you are here for her. You want to chuck her out, on her own, to whatever cruel thing gave her those wings." _Oh. The her must be me, as Larkflower told me there were no other cats with wings._

"It does not belong here. Just because it has wings doesn't mean we should treat it like a clanmate. We should treat it like we treat all strangers, help them regain their strength, then tell them that if they want to stay, they will have to learn the ways of the clan, then make them train so hard, they want to leave." He mewed. I felt a wave of sadness crash over me as I realised Larkflower wasn't making a reply.

"You know I have always been against that method, Crowstar. As your medicine cat I strongly advise you to let her join if she wants to, and let all other strangers join too. Otherwise I shall have to leave CloudClan." Larkflower's mew sounded as if she was almost at boiling point. Crowstar paused.

"Fine. It can stay." I breathed a sigh of relief. I didn't want to return there. "But only if you go to the MoonPool to make sure StarClan wants this to happen." I wished I could see Larkflower's face, whether it was okay, whether she would be serious or laughing.

"I already have received a message from them." I sucked my breath in, knowing that it was probably true, yet still a little voice nagged away at me, telling me I was just kidding myself.

"Yes?" Crowstar mewed, his mew sounding as nervous as I felt.

"They said she should stay. She has a great destiny, one no other cat can fulfil." _Pah, me? Shy, confused, nervous, oh and not to mention the fact I have giant freaking WINGS. Everything you look for in a cat with a great destiny. Yeah right. _I suddenly felt like not listening any more, I had heard enough. They could tell me in the morning and I would pretend like I hadn't heard any of it before. _I should get Larkflower to get him to call me she. _I realised. _I'm not an it. And she obviously has a big effect on him._ I yawned again. _Oh well, it's not like he's going to hate me forever is it? _I pricked my ears, there were footsteps approaching. I leapt back into my nest and curled up, slowing my breathing to a steady pace. "Are you asleep?" I heard Larkflower enter the den and I responded with the largest yawn I could muster. "Ah, good. Crowstar is here to talk with you."

"About what?"

"About you entering the clan." The big black tom, which I now knew was Crowstar, pushed his way in. He didn't come all the way in, and there was a fern on top of his head, and I had to try not to giggle. "Me and Larkflower have spoken, and we would like to formally welcome you to the clan. I shall call a clan meeting tonight, and you shall receive your name. Do you want to join?" I nodded in reply. _Of course I do! Anything is better than there, even death. _"Good." He turned around and pushed his way out. I breathed out, realising I had been holding my breath.

"He always takes some convincing to do anything, so convincing him to change his traditions is quite an achievement in my eyes." Larkflower mewed to me jokily. "Silverheart was always the one who was spontaneous. But, as they say, opposites attract. I wonder what he'll name you. Maybe Amberpaw, because of your eyes? Or maybe Cherrypaw, after his lost kit? You look similar, but obviously you are quite different." I felt her eyes flitter to my wings. "Just, she was a ginger tabby so, you know, it's possible. What about your mentor? Doveflight, Juniperfeather and Stormwhisker are taken, so not them." She had lost me now, muttering about something I had no clue about. The only thing I had been referred to was Test Subject 12, and I didn't even know what a Cherrypaw or Amberpaw was. They all seemed like funny names to me, but I guess I didn't know anything about these clans. I pretended I knew what she was talking about for a while, then told her I wanted to get ready for the meeting. She understood and ran out, probably to check her herbs.


	4. 3 A new name, a new nest, a new life

**A/N: Hey everyone. I hadn't updated in a while as I've been on holiday etc., so this time you get a double update! (I brought my laptop along so I wrote it, just couldn't upload it). Well, that's about it. Remember to review at the bottom! (Even if you don't have an account)**

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"Eaglewing, you have recently become a warrior and have proven to me you are ready for an apprentice. I trust you to pass your intelligence and loyalty onto Cherrypaw." I looked around, confused. There were eyes all around me, boring into my sides, my feet, my wings. "Cherrypaw, your mentor shall be Eaglewing." A stripy brown tom emerged from somewhere and touched noses with me, looking extremely pleased with himself. _Is he pleased because he got an apprentice, or is it because that apprentice is the one with wings? _I asked myself. Probably both. As we stepped down, I noticed many cats looking at him jealously. I felt sick, and lowered my eyes so I was looking at the ground so I wouldn't have to cope with the glares. I knew exactly why Crowstar had chosen him, he had even bothered to say so. One, he thought I was stupid and two, because he thought I needed help in loyalty. I'd show him.

"Hey, Cherrypaw!" I padded on, not even registering my name. "Cherrypaw!" I turned, realising it was me the mew was asking for.

"Yes?"

"It's me, Gullpaw!" And, rightly enough, he appeared in front of me. "Where are you going?"

"I don't know." I admitted. "I hoped it was to my nest."

"Your nest is with me now, in the apprentices' den. I'll give you a tour."

"Okay." I blinked at him gratefully. He blinked back, and a warm feeling spread through my stomach.

"We'll start at the entrance." Luckily, this had been where I was going, mistaking it for Larkflower's den. "Come through!" He disappeared into a bush, and I poked it cautiously, before yowling as it pricked me. A tail emerged to my left, and I followed it through the spikes, to the outside of the grey thing that I had landed in front of when I was escaping. "The gorse bush keeps out intruders, and other clans. It takes a while and a few pricks to get used to where the gap is though." He walked back through, and I followed closely behind.

The next thing on our tour was the warriors den. It was quite a long way down a tunnel, and then the first opening in a round space. There were only two other openings. I poked my head in, to be treated to a view of many cats asleep. "The warriors den is the one closest to the entrance so that if an intruder does get in, they'll be able to attack easily. It's also the biggest, so it can hold many warriors." Gullpaw explained. He moved along to the next opening. "This is Lavenderpool's den, where you stayed." I nodded, as I knew that I had stayed here. "She is here because injured cats can easily get to her."

"That makes sense." I mewed, and it did, because it was on ground level, so any cat that had injured their leg didn't have to leap up.

"This is the elder's den. They have good stories but apprentices are always forced to look after them." He blinked happily at me, then leapt up.

"Gullpaw?" I mewed. He had just disappeared again.

"Jump up!" I leapt and scrabbled onto a ledge that I hadn't noticed before that lead to another set of openings. "This is the nursery. They're high up so that it's near impossible to get them, unless you know where they are." I was about to stick my head in when Gullpaw's tail held me back. "The kits and queens will be asleep, and if you wake up the kits, then you aren't going to be the most popular among the queens. The next one is Crowstar's den, the one above the entrance. You see it?"

"Yeah, although it's a bit dark up here." It was dark. I could only just make out the small hollow that must serve as his den. "Where's our den?"

"Opposite where we are standing now!" Gullpaw jumped down, and I marvelled at the muscles rippling under his pelt. "The other apprentices made a nest for you, between me and Robinpaw. Follow me!" I jumped down clumsily and followed him back up to the place where I would sleep in the foreseeable future. "Here we are." He ducked into the dark opening and I cautiously stepped in. As my eyes adjusted to the blackness, I heard Gullpaw's whisper of "Over here! Be careful!"

"Okay." I could easily make out Gullpaw's white pelt now, and padded over to another nest.

"You sleep here, and I'll be over on this side." I nodded gratefully, and curled up with my tail over my nose.

"Good luck tomorrow." I heard him whisper before dropping into complete unconsciousness.

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**A/N: Okay, thanks for reading! Remember review below!**

**Shadow**

**-x-**


	5. 4 Flight

**A/N: Well, this has taken a while to get up hasn't it? I have had really bad writer's block so please forgive me! Well, hopefully you will all enjoy it!**

**Mallow: It's obvious you don't love me enough *sniff* (jks)**

**RubyArtist334: Thank you :):):):) xxx**

**someone (another brilliant name): It might be a bit weird to just have a random chapter in his pov, but maybe an epilogue?**

**Cheetahfur: I know :/ It was kinda awks writing it because I kept on wanting to used the actual word for it**

**Snowsong of SnowClan: Wait and see... (hopefully)**

**Well, this has been nice. Please please please review! :)**

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"Cherrypaw?" I opened my eyes sleepily as a paw was jammed into my side.

"What?" I whispered.

"Come on, Eaglewing's waiting for you. You're going to show him what you can do." I assumed it was Gullpaw speaking as his voice was now familiar. _  
_

"Okay. Hang on." I stood up and followed his scent out to the clearing. My nose was still overwhelmed, but I could now make out his scent among others. "Were the others asleep?"

"Yeah, they were sleeping like little kits. However, our mentors don't need us at the moment so we get a lie in." He sensed my nervousness, and quickly reassured me that for the first day he got up early too. "Here's Eaglewing now." A new smell wafted over and my eyes could just make out the white tip of his tail. "Bye, Cherrypaw." I watched his white and grey body clearly make it's way back to the ledge, when it disappeared as he jumped up.

"So, Cherrypaw." I sensed Eaglewing walking around me, studying every part.

"Could we go outside? I can't see," I asked. I thought it was perfectly reasonable to want to be able to see. _These cats can evidently see in the dark. I mean, Gullpaw managed to get here and back without any issues._

"Well, maybe," He paused as he mulled it over. _He wants to see my wings. But he's been told to stay inside, keep me in. Keep me away from them. _To be honest, I wanted to see the blue. I wanted to smell fresh air. I wanted to stretch my wings. I wanted to fly. _Please say yes. Please. Just please. _"I guess we could..." I blinked at where his voice was coming from.

"Thank you," I mewed. I felt like I couldn't talk with him like I could with Larkflower or Gullpaw. Eaglewing was more, I don't know, closed? Respected? Stiff?

"Come on then. We can see how fast you can run," _and fly. _I added silently. I knew it was coursing through his head. Just knew it. He lead the way down the tunnel that Gullpaw had shown me the other day. Once we got to the prickles, I followed him closely, making sure I didn't lose him and he told me to shut my eyes. I did so. He lead me down a small slope. "Open them," I widened my eyes, taking in every detail. The blue was dark, and a white thing that was nearing the horizon shrouded the view in shadow. To my left, there was a small stream of water bubbling down, where it met a large lake, which was in front of me. There were many tall things strutting up against the blue, but to my right the view was just covered in them.

"Woah," I mewed. It was all I could muster, I had never such a large place before.

"Over to the right is TreeClan's territory, and near the lake is LakeClan," Eaglewing explained.

"What about where we are?" I asked. As far as I could see, we were in a place that had not very many tall things, and only the stream was connected to the lake.

"We are in CloudClan's territory, because we live in CloudClan." He blinked at me, then mewed "I guess Crowstar didn't bother to tell you. Can you run?"

"Run?" I asked. _What is this running? It's a funny word. _I laughed to myself at the word running.

"You know, this," and he set off kind of half flying. _I like the word half-flying better than running. Running just sounds stupid. _Eaglewing skidded to a stop, and turned to me. "Try it."

"Okay..." I mewed uncertain. _What he did looks like what I did when I was escaping. _I closed my eyes and imagined that day. I made the things burst out behind me and snarl as they saw me. I rushed through the forest, hearing their noises in my ears, smelling their smells. I ran and ran until the rustling was on me. I flailed helplessly, attempting to open my wings, escape. "Let me go!" I mewed. The rustling held me still until Eaglewing's smell made it's way into my nose.

"It's only me, Eaglewing." I could hear the panic in his voice. The rustling turned to paws, and as I lay still, I felt him lift them off of me. "Are you okay?" I stood up shakily, then turned to face him. I nodded slowly. "Well, you are fast!" He blinked at me. _That's right Cherrypaw, think of the positives, like he is. Forget about what just happened. Deep breaths. _

"Yeah, I guess," I mewed shakily, focusing on a leaf fluttering down onto my feet.

"Well, we'd better wrap it up for now. Unless..." his eyes flicked to my wings, just for one tiny second.

"Can I?"

"Sure," he shrugged. "I need to know whether you can fly yet too." _Really? I wonder why he was told that. _I shook my head and looked around. I was in a nice clearing, brilliant for taking off in. Eaglewing moved into the shadows to let me have enough space. I unfolded my glorious wings. My wings look stunning, even when the light isn't in the blue. A small breeze ruffled the feathers gently. I breathed in. Ah, it was good to be out. I ran and flapped, taking off. I quickly tucked my legs under me, and let my wings take me higher and higher, until I stopped trying to climb, and I fell, spiraling round and round and round, brushing the tree-tops as I pulled up, feeling, well, free. Free from names and nests and just life. I closed my eyes, and felt the wind rushing through my pelt, pushing my whiskers back. The wind roared in my ears, bringing me new scents, my eyes taking in as much as they could - the tiny specks below, the light rising turning the blue pink. I was facing the light, and I squinted as it rose past the tall things jutting out against the horizon. I was just utterly calm. It was just warm enough, the light warming my pelt and the gentle breeze cooling it down. Perfect. Perfectly warm, perfectly free, perfectly fine. Just perfect. "Cherrypaw! Cherrypaw!" I heard Eglewing's yowl echo through the forest. I caught a glimpse of his white tipped tail streaking through the trees below me.

"Eaglewing!" I spiralled down lazily, landing as best I could. "Eaglewing?" I looked around carefully, there was no sign of him anywhere apart from his scent.

"Cherrypaw!" He tumbled through the bushes, crashing into me. "We've got to get back to camp!" And he was off again, hurtling through the foliage.

"What, now?" I mewed as I ran after him. "Why?"

"You're going to train with the other apprentices and be shown around. This was just so I could get to know you."

"Okay," I mewed cautiously. _Don't like the sound of this Cherrypaw. Get out of there. Hang on, isn't Gullpaw an apprentice? So I'll be training with him? Great! What is training? _

"Quick, through here. We weren't meant to leave camp." _Ah-ha, so like __I thought! _Eaglewing shoved me through the spot in the prickles and yowled at me "Run! Run! Don't be late!" I did so, tripping over myself into the clearing.

"Well look who we have here." A voice mewed. I looked up to see a white, black and ginger cat standing over me, contempt glowing in her amber eyes. "A little winged cat."


	6. 5 Hunting

**A/N: Hello people of earth. I have been on a reading rampage, and therefore have not been able to update as quick as I had previously hoped. (IT HAS BEEN LIKE A MONTH). Also, my computer has been deleting my new chapters that I wrote :( I have also decided that if I get too many reviews for one chapter, I will only reply to people who review regularly. I hope you enjoy the story :D. The book I have been reading is called ****_Ready Player One_****, and I recommend it to people who like fantasy and science-fiction stories. **

**Mallow - Bad, bad little Eaglewing :)**

**RubyArtist334 - I checked it out, it was really good. I think I reviewed... Everybody, go check out her story!**

**MarshMALLOW - Goodness Mallow. I gave you that nickname... Good effort though. **

**Hope that all of you enjoy the chapter ^_^**

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_Previously on A Cat with Wings: "Well look who we have here." a voice mewed. I looked up to see a white, black and ginger cat standing over me, contempt glowing in her amber eyes. "A little winged cat."_

"So you're the one who's been taking up my father's precious time," she mewed. "What exactly is so special that he let you stay? Is it the fact that you look like my sister, who was lost many moons ago?" She started to circle me, enclosing me in a circle that was impossible to escape. My eyes followed her around as I lay on the floor. "Or is it these..." she looked repulsed. "wings?" She reached out with one paw to stroke one of my ruffled wings, but I rolled over and stood up.

"Who are you?" I mewed, feeling like this wasn't the best question to ask.

"Why don't you know?" she asked. _It's obvious she thinks highly of herself then... _

"Hey, Blossompaw!" A brown tom padded over to her, and her eyes flashed with annoyance. "Is this the new one? The one with wings?"

"Robinpaw," she whined. "You ruined it!"

"What? I ruined what?"

"Everything! You idiot. I can't believe we have to train with it." _It? What is the it?_

"I know. It's going to be so far behind." _Oh wait. The 'it' is me. But Larkflower said that I was a she..._

"I'm obviously going to get my warrior name first," she boasted. "You know, with me being the best at hunting and fighting. And the small fact that I'm the daughter of Crowstar."

"Yeah, I guess you will get it first. What are we doing today?"

"I think Doveflight said that we were going to show it around the borders."

"Oh," Robinpaw turned his head slightly to look at me, and kept it there, staring.

"Hm," Blossompaw did the same. I was faced with two pairs of eyes boring into me. I stared at the ground hard, not quite sure where to look.

"Guys, you're meant to be welcoming her, not staring at her! You know, like Crowstar said," I looked up, excited as I heard Gullpaw's mew. He padded over, blinking at me in the process. _Did he just help me? To do that it must means he doesn't hate me! _

"I think I know what my own father said! He shares _everything _with me." Blossompaw gloated. "Every little thing."

"Sure, sure. We _all _believe that, Blossompaw," Gullpaw mewed sarcastically, rolling his eyes at me, causing Blossompaw to glower at him ferociously. "Juniperfeather sent me to fetch you. We're late."

"Late? Oh no... Stormwhisker will be so annoyed," Robinpaw whispered, looking concerned.

"Huh!" Blossompaw snorted. "The daughter of the leader is never late. It's just everyone else is early." She mewed, acting as if Robinpaw hadn't spoken. "Come on Robinpaw." She turned and trotted down the tunnel, looking worried. Robinpaw nodded his head at me and Gullpaw then rushed after her.

"We'd better set off too." Gullpaw mewed. "So you met the other apprentices, huh?" He started to pad off down the tunnel. I nodded and followed quietly.

"Are all the other cats like that?"

"No! Blossompaw's just Blossompaw, and Robinpaw's nice on his own, which isn't very often. You see, he has this massive crush on her, and for some reason thinks that hanging around her will make him get his warrior name quicker or something stupid like that." _A massive crush? Isn't she upset that he's crushing her?_

"A crush on her? Doesn't that hurt her?" I asked, hoping he would explain.

"You know, like loves her. But not as strong. Not crushing her!" He blinked at me, chuckling at my ignorance. "Crushing her." He whispered to himself, laughing under his breath. "What a thought!"

"Oh okay." _That doesn't make anything clearer. What's love? _"Ow!" I bristled my fur as I felt spikes in my nose. "Ow, ow, ow!"

"Oh no! Are you okay? I guess you didn't see the bush. Here, let me look at it." I stopped jumping about squealing in shock and sat down. "Lift your head up slightly." I did so and he studied my nose. "It's fine. Just the shock. No bleeding." He blinked at me. "And that's good because otherwise I would have to wait again until I can fight you!"

"You want to fight me?" I mewed, scared. _You do not want to fight anybody, Cherrypaw. That is a big no-go. _"Will I have to fight?"

"Yeah, you will have to learn. Otherwise you won't be able to defend yourself. Don't worry about it though," he mewed, noticing my concerned expression. "You'll learn how with Eaglewing. And we aren't going fighting today."

"You sure?" I asked.

"Positive. Come on! We're late!" He pushed his way through the spikes, and I followed quickly behind. As I stepped into the sunlight, I noticed a crowd of cats around the entrance.

"Gullpaw! Cherrypaw! We've been waiting for you for ages!" A grey tom mewed, his amber eyes blazing with annoyance. Robinpaw sat beside him, looking nervous.

"Don't be too harsh on them, Stormwhisker. Cherrypaw IS new," this time a bluey-grey she-cat spoke, twitching her whiskers in amusement.

"That's still no excuse. Eaglewing!" a white-grey she-cat snapped, Blossompaw sitting beside her looking smug.

"Yes, Doveflight?" My mentor stepped forward.

"You should punish your apprentice for being late. As should you, Juniperfeather." Doveflight demanded. I looked to Eaglewing, pleading him. _What's punish? It doesn't sound very nice._

"Doveflight, she's my apprentice, and I can choose whether to punish her or not. And I choose not." Eaglewing blinked at me, then padded over. "We also need to show her the borders."

"Me and Robinpaw shall come with you, if you want." Stormwhisker suggested. "Blossompaw and Gullpaw can practice their fighting moves on each other."

"That sounds fine with me." Juniperfeather mewed happily. "Come on Gullpaw. To training !" And she pelted off, Gullpaw following not far behind.

"Come on, Blossompaw. We might as well get this over with." Doveflight mewed contemptuously, and started to trot off after them.

"So, shall we go round so that we come to the training ground last?" Eaglewing mewed. "That's the way I was taken."

"As was I." Stormwhisker mewed, and they started to pad slowly down the small steep we were on. We walked around a bit, and me and Robinpaw talked. _Gullpaw's right. He is nicer when he's not around Blossompaw._ There was nothing really interesting, only a few. The first thing was the river. We had to swim through it. Never again. The second was the grey. The grey was very tall and very steep. Eaglewing said it was a mountain. We had to climb up. No. The third was the tree which had a scent mark on. It smelt horrible, like dead leaves and trees. Not at all like what the cats at CloudClan smell like. The fourth was a place which Robinpaw called Three Stones. I felt like this was an appropriate name, as that was what it was, three stones. And the fifth place was the training grounds. Nobody told me that the training grounds were up the mountain, and were the source of the river. Not until we got there, that is. And that was where me and Gullpaw met each other again. He blinked at me as I reached the top, panting heavily, wanting to use my wings.

"How was the tour?" he asked.

"Tour?"

"Around the borders?"

"Tiring. How was the fighting?" I replied.

"Amazing! I absolutely thrashed Blossompaw!" _He sounds excited. Should I be happy for him? _I looked over at Blossompaw, who was grooming her chest fur self-consciously under the gaze of Doveflight.

"Oh... Good?" I mewed, averting my eyes back to him.

"Yeah! Blossompaw was so annoyed! I think their going to teach you how to hunt today."

"Hunt?"

"You know, catch things. To eat."

"Oh okay."

"Apprentices!" Juniperfeather yowled. "We are going to teach Cherrypaw how to hunt before going on a hunting patrol!"

"Eaglewing, Juniperfeather, Gullpaw and Cherrypaw on one, and me, Doveflight, Robinpaw and Blossompaw on the other." Stormwhisker put in.

"Also, you all need to brush up on catching birds." Doveflight mewed. "I think the elders are sickening of mice."

"Now, go into your groups." Eaglewing mewed. I wandered over to Gullpaw, Juniperfeather and Eaglewing, a little dazed. Eaglewing blinked at me, and I returned it.

"Gullpaw, can you show Cherrypaw how to catch a bird?" Juniperfeather questioned.

"Sure!"

"Cherrypaw, watch him carefully," Eaglewing mewed, and I did so. He almost glided across the ground, putting each paw down carefully, one after the other. Then, right at the end, he pounced suddenly, making me jump. He repeated this process quite a few times, with Juniperfeather correcting him sometimes. "Do you think you can do that?" Eaglewing asked me. _Cherrypaw, you can do this. It doesn't look too hard..._

"I'll try," I replied.

"Gullpaw, keep on practicing," I heard Juniperfeather command. I dropped to the ground, one eye on Gullpaw, and stepped forwards, as lightly as I could bear.

"Drop your back legs, Cherrypaw." Eaglewing mewed. I dropped them, unconscious to the fact I was doing it before. "Lift your tail up a bit." I picked it up from where it had been dragging, and concentrated on a small patch of stone. "Now, pounce!" _What's pouncing? Ah, well, just leap onto the stone like Gullpaw. _I leapt onto the small patch of stone, then sat down, awaiting criticism. "Well done! Do it a few more times and then we'll set off." I did, each time getting more praise from Eaglewing.

"Are you ready to go over there?" Juniperfeather yowled.

"Yeah, are you?" Stormwhisker replied.

"Of course! Be back at camp by sunset?"

"Fine with me! Ready? Go!" We raced down the mountain. I had no idea what on earth was going on, but I felt strangely compelled to do well. I looked over to Gullpaw, who was fully concentrated on running. When we reached the trees, we paused.

"Eaglewing, take Gullpaw and I'll take Cherrypaw." Juniperfeather mewed. _A lot of switching today, Cherrypaw. _I watched them run off into the forest. "Okay?" Juniperfeather asked. I nodded in reply. "Good. Ready to hunt?" I nodded again. "Taste the air. What can you smell?"

"A kind of bird? And mice." I replied, uncertain to all these smells, apart from the mouse which Gullpaw had brought me.

"Good. Now, follow the mouse's scent, and then pounce on it. I'll stay in the shadows. Okay?" I followed the mouse's scent carefully, until I saw the small creature, sniffling in leaves. I glided forwards, keeping my pawsteps light, until I was a whisker's length away from it. Then, I leapt on it, feeling the power in my hind legs. It struggled helplessly under my claws. _What should I do now? _"Bite it's neck." Juniperfeather's whisper barely reached me, but I still heard her. I bit it, feeling the life drain out of it. "Great work Cherrypaw! Bury it now, and we'll come back to collect it on the way back." I did so, and we continued hunting, sometimes Juniperfeather, sometimes me, even though the only other thing I caught was a thrush, according to Juniperfeather. She caught a lot more, but I guess she'd had more practice. We returned back to camp, carrying all our prey (which was, in total, about 6 of them).

"Cherrypaw! I caught a snake!" Gullpaw's triumphant mew greeted me as we entered the main clearing. I followed Juniperfeather's lead of putting the prey down on a pile of it before replying.

"Well done!" I tried to sound enthusiastic for him, even though I didn't know what a snake was. My stomach rumbled loudly.

"Hungry? We can take some prey off the fresh-kill pile, but we have to wait for everybody else to have some first. Actually, we should probably take some to the nursery, especially for the kits." He walked over to the pile, picked up the thrush I had caught, and headed off in the direction of the nursery. He signalled with his tail that I should do the same. I picked up another bird and followed him.

"Hello, Gullpaw. Oh thank you, so kind." I heard mews coming from inside. I pushed my way through the ferns, to find myself in a dim hollow. I let my eyes adjust to the darkness before taking in my surroundings. There were two she-cats, lying down, one with Gullpaw and one looking at me expectantly. The one by Gullpaw had tiny cats rubbing against her belly. I placed my bird by the one without any prey.

"Thank you, Cherrypaw. My favourite." She heaved herself up to eat it.

"Cherrypaw, this is Thrushflight," he gestured to the one eating my bird. She was brown and stripy. "And this is my mother, Specklefur." The white she-cat blinked at me kindly. "And these are Poppykit and Rosekit." He gestured to the two small cats by her belly.

"Gullpaw, why don't you go and eat now? I'm sure you can now." Specklefur suggested. He nodded and went out. I blinked at her and followed him. I picked a mouse off of the pile and went over to Gullpaw who was eating a black bird. As I settled down to eat, I felt a feeling of recognition wash over me. I felt like I had come home.

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**Thank you for reading, it's a bit longer than usual. Again, I'm really sorry for the late update, it shouldn't be so bad next time. Please review ^_^**

**Shadow**

**-x-**


	7. 6 A Gathering

**A/N: Thank you all who reviewed, favourited and followed. It's really appreciated. Thank you especially to: Guardian-Fe, RubyArtist334, Skyblaze of LightningClan, liontail, silverwish of windclan, wolfheart of earthclan and Pebblepaw for favouriting, Cheetahfur, Fireheart and Sandstorm, Mallowfeather of Earthclan, Skyblaze of LightningClan, Snowsong of SnowClan, Swiftshadow2000, The Lazy Alchemist, silverwish of windclan, wolfheart of earthclan and XxBreezefeatherxX for following :3 That's a lot of names (17 to be exact)**

**GreeceXCats527 - Oh, thank you ^_^ I haven't read all of the books so far, and I didn't realise.**

**Mallow - Thank you darling. It is much appreciated and yes, that is long enough ;)**

**RubyArtist334 - I thought they might want to teach her how to hunt properly before she goes flying off :D**

**Pebblepaw - XD Thanks :)**

**Please read and review!**

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I opened my eyes slowly. This could only lead to disaster. Why was I here? At least Gullpaw was beside me. I turned to face him, and he blinked at me. _What is it with these cats and blinking? It's like a natural thing for them to do. _I studied my surroundings. There was a line of cats in front of me, and we were at the back. I groaned inwardly. _How much longer? I can't walk much further. Why can't we just fly? Oh wait. These stupid cats don't have wings. _I paused for a second. _Did I just call them stupid? Well, I guess I'm just in a bad mood. _"Are you okay, Cherrypaw?" I returned to the present, focusing on Gullpaw.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You don't seem fine."

"I'm fine, okay? Just stop bugging me!" I snapped, my mouth out of control. _What am I saying? _"Sorry, I guess I'm just a little stressed, with everybody making such a big fuss about this," I paused for a second, searching for the right word. "_Gathering_"

"Hey!" The cat in front of me mewed as I bumped into them. "Didn't you see the signal?"

"No, I didn't see the signal, surprisingly, due to the fact that I don't even know what the signal is, and what it's signalling." I replied sarcastically.

"Cherrypaw!" Gullpaw protested

"The signal tells us all to stop and wait until we go down to Three Stones. Okay?" the cat snapped, and turned her back on us.

"Cherrypaw, don't do that again! Just be silent, and barely anyone will notice." Gullpaw whispered to me, eyes shining with annoyance. Before I could reply, the cats were bounding off ahead of me. I raced forwards, just catching up with them before I reached Three Stones. In front of me, there were the Three Stones. They were rising up of a small, glittering pool that reflected the moonlight up them, making them look taller. We stood in a small clearing, and the moon shone down, with no clouds blocking the light. "Cherrypaw! Follow me!" I heard Gullpaw's whisper and followed him through the crowd, keeping to the shadows. I wanted to hide my wings until absolutely necessary. I saw him stop at a group of cats of all sizes and colours. _I guess I have to come out now. Do I really want to though? I mean, they're all going to stare, and I'll be put on show, and it will just be disastrous really._ "Cherrypaw?" _Great. Now Gullpaw's coming over. No escaping now then. _

"Coming!" I pushed my way through the ferns and sat down at the edge of the group. There was about 6 of us.

"Who's this Gullpaw?" A grey tom with blue eyes questioned. "New apprentice?" _They haven't noticed my wings yet. Thank StarClan._

"What's your name?" A white she-cat asked. She looked similar to Gullpaw, with her grey streaks. I sighed inwardly. _This is really not my idea of fun. __  
_

"She's Cherrypaw," Gullpaw mewed as I opened my mouth. _Why did you do that Gullpaw? I can speak! _I cast a glare at him, and he sighed deeply. "Cherrypaw, this is Lichenpaw," he signalled the grey tom. "Mousepaw," a brown/grey she-cat nodded at me briefly. "Flashpaw," a black tom with white splodges. "And Heronpaw." The one that looks like Gullpaw. _Gullpaw and Heronpaw? They sound familiar._

"Cherrypaw?" I focused on Flashpaw. "Do you have..." he paused, "Wings?" _Great. Just great. _

"Yes, she does! She's a loner and Larkflower found her outside camp!" Gullpaw quickly mewed again. Another glare. The others whispered among themselves. I caught snippets of their conversation as Gullpaw was encouraged in. _Am I really so strange that they don't think I can't hear them?_ I asked myself. _I'll just sit here, doing nothing in particular really._ Suddenly they all stopped and looked at the stones. I did too, and saw that three cats had leapt up so they were at the top - Crowstar, a white cat with green eyes and a grey cat, and there were three cats sitting at the edge of the pool, facing the cats - a gold cat below Crowstar, a grey she-cat with white patches below the white cat and a brown tabby beneath the grey cat. "Sit beside me Cherrypaw," Gullpaw whispered, and motioned to a space by him.

"Okay," I glared at him before turning to the cats that were gathered by the stones. What I could only assume were the leaders, stood up and raised their noses towards the middle where a leaf was slowly drifting down. I watched in awe as it rose up and then disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

"May I go first?" the grey tom asked, and the other cats nodded for him to start. "TreeClan is doing well, and one of our queens - Foxtail - has given birth to three healthy kits. We hope that StarClan will lead them well. We have been finding plenty of prey, and are well fed this Greenleaf." He stepped back gratefully.

"That's Leafstar, of TreeClan. His deputy is Branchpelt," Gullpaw informed me quietly. "That's where Lichenpaw and Mousepaw are from."

"Blizzardstar, do you wish to go next?" Crowstar asked the white cat, glancing at Leafstar to check he agreed. Leafstar nodded in return.

"Thank you Crowstar." Blizzardstar mewed, dipping her head gratefully. "Like TreeClan, LakeClan is doing well. We are eating well and have a new queen - Ripplecloud. Our other queen - Lilyfoot - is due for kitting in a quarter-moons. We also have a new warrior - Mudwhisker," she paused whilst the cats around me chanted his name. "We have no other clan news." She stepped back gracefully.

"That's Blizzardstar of LakeClan. Her deputy is Minnowheart, and they're the ones that live by the lake." He whispered, glancing at me, and recieving a hard glare in return.

"CloudClan is fine, although one of our warriors was injured by a fox near the Twoleg nest on our territory about a halfmoon ago. We have not scented it since it went into LakeClan territory. One of our queens - Specklefur - has kitted, and we now have two healthy kits in CloudClan, Rosekit and Poppykit." I heard a purr rise from Gullpaw's throat. _Why is he doing that? That's just a waste of energy. _"We also have a new apprentice," time seemed to slow down as the others looked at me. "Cherrypaw," I was submerged in another sea of faces turned towards me, judging me. A whisper rose from the other side. _Does she have wings? She's such a freak!_ I felt a cry catch in my throat and wished I wasn't here. I could fly away, to the trees. Get out of these creepy clans. One more whisper and I was out of there. _Cherrypaw. _There we go. I rose to the sky, and landed in a nearby tree before being thrust into darkness.

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**That's it! Please review below! Seeing as we're nearing 50 reviews, I've decided to make a contest for 49th, 50th, and 51st reviewer! **

**Shadow**

**-x-**


	8. 7 Capture

**A/N: Sorry for the long time in posting again :( Holidays though so they should be up quicker! YAY! **

**Mallow: ;) She's just so grumpy like you**

**RubyArtist334 (? Is that you? Flight of the Snowy Owl?): THanks :3**

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Yowling. Mewing. Barking. These sounds constantly haunted me. So you can imagine how I felt when I awoke and they were still there, ringing in my ears._ Am I back?_ I stood up and checked my wings. Firmly clamped to my sides. Again. And what exactly did I see when I looked around me? The place. I was in another crate, with no other animals, and with 'Test Subject 12' written on the label stuck to it. _Great. Maybe it was all a dream?_ No, it couldn't be. The wind, the scents were too real for that. And you couldn't imagine Gullpaw. It's nothing like the names I've heard. A thing came in, yowling softly. I knew what would happen next. When almost every day of your life was spent like this, it's impossible to forget. Rightly enough, they took my crate to a room full of others. "Hey there 12," an animal croaked from a cage as we entered.

"Hey 10," I replied. I didn't know what was behind each of the bars, only their numbers.

"They've got some that look like you."

"Oh. Thanks for telling me." The animal was kicked by the thing holding my crate and I mewed in worry, resulting in me being shaken. Who was it that was captured? Was Gullpaw here?

The thing slotted my crate into place, and I lay down on the hard floor. It was only then that I realised how horrible my life had been here. Pain almost every day. And I was putting others through it! I had to escape.

As these thoughts were running through my head, the thing had left and turned off the light.

"Cherrypaw?" I heard a worried mew come from the crate next to me. "Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me. But you'd better keep quiet incase the thing comes back. Who are you?"

"It's Blossompaw. These conditions are absolutely dreadful! I don't have any moss, any fresh-kill, any water..."she tailed off as I didn't reply. "Cherrypaw?"

"I lived like this for the first moons of my life, thinking it was normal to have sharp things stuck into me, to be forced to fly. And then I walked into CloudClan, and realised that life could be so much better than that, so much more enjoyable. And now I've had that all torn from me again. How exactly do you think I'm feeling? I'm back in my nightmare, only it's reality. You think it's bad for you? Imagine how I feel." I mewed, almost breaking down at the end. You know, I don't think I've ever liked Blossompaw as much as that moment, when she pushed her tail through the bars and comforted me.

"Not a word of this to anyone else," she whispered. I nodded before realising she couldn't see me.

"Of course."

Over the next few days, or what I assumed were days, I was taken out several times, tested and sometimes sedated if I attempted to claw them. I learnt who the other cats that were captive were, and which cage they were in. Crowstar and Blizzardstar was here, as well as Branchpelt and Minnowheart. There weren't very many warriors, just a pawful. Turns out Blossompaw had snuck along to the gathering, and had ended up not running fast enough. Each night, the leaders and deputies would try to come up with an escape plan. I would have loved to help, but each test made me tired and exhausted. They sometimes asked me for advice though, as I knew the place best. One night, 10 croaked in order to help.

"12s, your plan is going to fail. The only way out is to either somehow open your crate and the others, or to get them to test you outside and fly off, like 12. But I don't think they're going to make that mistake again. Have you even been tested yet?" He finished, and waited for them to reply.

"No, but I think it's only a matter of time," came Crowstar's mew.

"Also, Cher... I mean 12 is the only cat that we know of that's been tested," replied Branchpelt.

I nodded silently, and somewhat gladfully. I hadn't put them through that pain. "Maybe after 12 has been tested she could jump out of their paws and help us?" Minnowheart suggested. "After a non-tiring one that is."

"There are no non-tiring ones," I sighed. "But if you want, I'll try."

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**A shortish chapter but there's better to come! Review below!**

**Shadow **

**-x-**


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